Heavelock Solutions Receives Innovation Funding

Innovation Norway supports further development of the unique drilling and well modelling software for floating rigs developed by Heavelock Solutions and commercialised in 2019.

The software has been used in Norway by both Norske Shell and OMV and for both companies an investment of less than $50,000 in well planning phase was shown, to reduce costs by more than $1,000,000 during drilling and completion operations.

Reduction in costs comes from less waiting on weather, as simulations by Heavelock Solutions show exactly how heavy seas a well can tolerate before activities have to be stopped due to conditions downhole. This kind of dynamic limit, tailored to each specific well and operation, has not been available before.

In addition, the simulations make it possible to better manage risks of breaching well pressure margins due to excessive surge & swab (pressure variations in the well). Heavelock Solutions started to expand its services internationally last year with assignments in Brazil and Australia.

Large Potential with Integration

There is a significant potential for better customer experience and more efficient data exchange if the simulation engine from Heavelock Solutions can receive its inputs (drilling & well data) seamlessly from the customer (an operator company).

This is why Innovation Norway granted support to carry out such integration in 2021. With this support Heavelock Solutions will be able to carry out the necessary development work, required for such an integration. The goal of the Trondheim-based tech company is that its simulations are utilized during planning of most wells to be drilled from floating rigs – in Norway and abroad.

The potential is large since any well with tight pressure margins, complicated geology, in deep water, with high temperature or pressure or drilled on a depleted field is a good candidate.

The simulations can be used to calculate limits not only for drilling operations, but also for installing casings and liners as well as for running completions.

Pre-project Funding from GCE Ocean Technology

Dr. Dmitri Gorski, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Heavelock Solutions, says that the company received pre-project funding from GCE Ocean Technology in 2018. Back then, the main activity of Heavelock Solutions was to develop a downhole tool for Managed Pressure Drilling operations. Pre-project funding helped to diversify the company’s product portfolio, preparing the ground for splitting off the proprietary simulation software package as a separate product.

Today, software is the main business and the diversification of the product portfolio, supported by GCE Ocean Technology, turned out to be extremely important. Following the support from GCE Ocean Technology, Heavelock Solutions was also awarded R&D funding from Innovation Norway and the Regional Research Fund in Trøndelag (RFFMidt). In addition, annual tax rebate provided by the SkatteFUNN program was an important contribution to growth.

– We are very grateful to GCE Ocean Technology for their support, says Gorski. – The pre-project funding was just a small part of it. What has been extremely valuable for a small company like ours is the experienced team of innovation and tech experts from GCE Ocean Technology who were always there to talk to. They also provided a collaboration arena where we could meet other like-minded entrepreneurs and we have an exciting project coming up with one of the companies we met at a GCE Ocean Technology networking event, Gorski ends.